The report notes these companies are bolstered by CU-ICAR, a 250-acre research campus located in Greenville. CU-ICAR offers North America’s first advanced degree in automotive engineering and actively partners with automotive companies to conduct shared research projects. Additionally, it recently unveiled the Vehicle Assembly Center in partnership with BMW, Siemens and Greenville Technical College.

“CU-ICAR’s rise has coincided with a continued expansion of the automotive cluster in Upstate South Carolina,” Joseph Parilla, one of the report’s co-authors, said. “CU-ICAR is particularly notable for its use of industry-endowed professorships in key technologies related to the automotive industry and its rigorous, applied learning program to train students. For leaders in other regions and states, CU-ICAR offers an example of how a major research university, state government, and industry can co-invest in a shared asset that can differentiate a cluster from its competitors.”

The report also discusses collaborative partnerships with K-12 educational institutions, such as the All Girls Auto Know program in partnership with the Southern Automotive Women’s Forum and a partnership with Dr. Phinnize J. Fisher Middle School, a science-, technology-, engineering-, art-, and math-focused (STEAM) school located at CU-ICAR’s Millennium Campus.

“South Carolina’s reputation for automotive excellence is the result of decades of hard work by talented, dedicated teams. With new strategic initiatives in advanced manufacturing, CU-ICAR will continue to help drive that success for years to come with our focus on strong public-private partnerships, cutting-edge research, and exemplary automotive engineering graduates,” said Nick Rigas, CU-ICAR Executive Director and associate vice president for Strategic Initiatives at Clemson University.

According to the report’s authors, regions grow based on their ability to provide environments where firms want to cluster and concentrate, and therefore cluster initiatives offer one justifiable foundation to lay long-term economic development strategies. They also acknowledge that implementing cluster initiatives is a challenge that requires significant institutional and financial commitment, alongside strong public-private partnerships.

“Our region has grown exponentially since BMW located its facility in Spartanburg decades ago, and organizations across the region embraced the change with a collaborative spirit and willingness to partner with industries to provide talent and solutions at every turn, such as CU-ICAR,” said John Lummus, President & CEO of the Upstate SC Alliance. “It is an honor for Brookings to showcase our region as a model for other areas.”